ROY AND RUSH KEEP OFFERING UP THE RIGHT STUFF

Monday was a grand day for certain conservatives in Alabama. Over the
weekend, a poll indicated that ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy
Moore could whip either Gov. Bob Riley or former Gov. Don Siegelman if
a gubernatorial election were held today. But that wasn't the only
good news. Rush Limbaugh was right .... back.

Moore's popularity rests, in large part, on the publicity of recent
weeks and the perception that he somehow stood up for God rather than
disobeying a lawful order of the court. That popularity may also have
something to do with Siegelman's plan for an educational lottery and
Riley's plan for tax-and-accountability reform both going down the
tubes.

So, too, of course, did Moore's Ten Commandments monument in the state
judicial building, but nobody had a chance to vote on that. That's
because the federal courts say Moore violated the U.S. Constitution,
and in a system of reasonable checks and balances, you don't get to
vote on which legal verdicts you have to obey.

If Moore were to run for governor, though, Alabama would, in effect,
be conducting a plebiscite on the monument.

But surely somebody running for governor - even in Alabama - has to
have a platform with a few more planks than putting Ten Commandments
monuments hither and yon. What else could Moore run on?

Well, in terms of consistency, he'd have to run on a promise not to
take any federal money for anything. States' rights, goshdurnit. The
feds give you money and you have to comply with all these rules and
put yourself in position for federal courts to decide issues - well,
we've had enough of that, haven't we?

That's gonna make it a bit tough on the Huntsville economy, what with
every other person being out of a job, but who said standing up for
displaying religious monuments in government buildings wasn't going to
have its downside?

Well, that's in the future. Rush Limbaugh is now. Actually, he was now
about 11:03 a.m. on Monday when he returned the air after detoxing at
an Arizona clinic. His last previous broadcast was Oct. 10.

You may not believe this, but I'm glad he's back. And, listening to
the first minutes of his welcome-back program, I'm also glad he hasn't
turned into a "linguini-spined liberal."

I was a bit confused by his statement that from now on he's going to
"put myself first" because I thought his blurring of news and
advertising to enhance his following and his pocketbook was already a
matter of record.

Yes, I find Limbaugh superficially tendentious and a calculated
espouser of an oversimplified view of the world that he knows is erroneous.

I also think he's still got problems with law on how he got all those
opiates.

But I'm glad he's back, and predictably on point - after only 10
minutes of self-involvement, he zinged Teddy Kennedy. That's the spirit.

And while I support neither Roy's nor Rush's politics, I am serious
about being glad that both are free to espouse their causes. (In
Moore's case, of course, he's been found guilty of an ethics violation
and removed from office and, I hope, will be disbarred. But he has
every right to spout his opinions, and it wouldn't be America if he
couldn't.)

As for Rush, he's the greatest product salesman since Arthur Godfrey.
It just happens that he's trying to sell you a bill of political goods
as well as retail wares.

I have a colleague who says Limbaugh makes every effort to give those
of differing opinions the right to be heard on his show. I'm a rare
listener, but I've never heard anything but "dittos" (which, my
colleague says, has more to do with the fact that the callers love
Rush than that they always agree with what he says.)

I've also noticed he doesn't have liberal or moderate guests on the
show to argue with him. But, then, nothing sounds better to Rush than
his own voice.

Anyway, I'm glad he's back and I hope he's got the monkey off his
back. Limbaugh, too, has a right to be heard as long as he can
persuade sponsors to pay him. Just spend the dough you are raking in
more wisely this time, my man.